The Rip Chords are known for their 1964 million-seller smash hit "Hey Little Cobra" and their chart hits "Three Window Coupe," "Here I Stand," "Gone," "409" and "Red Hot Roadster" from the Beach Movie "A Swingin’ Summer." Produced by the team of Terry Melcher and Bruce Johnston,who also performed on the recordings. As a matter of fact, it was Bruce and Terry’s voices that propelled "Hey Little Cobra" to the top of the charts! The 60’s Rip Chords started out with Phil Stewart and Ernie Bringas,who originally called themselves,"The Opposites", soon to be changed to "The Rip Chords". Their first hit as The Rip Chords, "Here I Stand" was a chart success and layed the ground work for more hits to come.Rich Rotkin and Arnie Marcus were brought into the band as Ernie was preparing to go to Seminary School. Although Phil, Ernie, Richie and Arnie were photographed together,and spent some time together in the studio,all personal appearances were done by Phil, Rich and Arnie, who performed their hits thousands of times in front of millions of fans across the country. Ernie did return to the band to record,but did not take to the road, as a condition of his seminary studies. The original band disbanded in 1965. The band re-formed with Original touring & recording 60’s Members, Richie Rotkin and Arnie Marcus along with new members Mitch Schecter, Freddy Brog and former member, Bob Rush in the mid 90’s, and more recently added Bobby Scammell to the line-up. For live performances,Tony Tuttle adds Drums,and Amy Lynne adds Backup Vocals,Keyboards,and Percussion. The band travels the U.S.A., pleasing audiences wherever they perform, sharing stages with Beach Boy Al Jardine,Peter Noone,Ron Dante,The Box Tops,Mickey Dolenz,1910 Fruitgum Co. among many others. They currently have 2 CD’s out on the COLLECTABLES RECORDS label called, "SHUT ’EM DOWN...AGAIN",(2005) and the just released CD, called, "THE RIP CHORDS...NOW!",(2008).
TheRipChords.net